In a run that The Vampire Diaries saw many badass female characters come and go, and some of the scariest and most memorable villains in the history of the series were women.
In the vampires of The Vampire Diaries were always the focus of the series. So with that said, which iconic TVD vampire villainess reigns supreme, Katherine Pierce or Rebekah Mikaelson?
Katherine: Because She Always Has A Plan
Many villains throughout the course of The Vampire Diaries' run were diabolical masterminds who never went into any situation flying blind, but the first true master manipulator of the series was clearly Katherine.
Katherine herself was more powerful than most of the Mystic Falls gang, although she wasn't a particularly powerful creature in her own right. But, she figured out a way to work around that and instead built up a network of plans and people that made her impossible to defeat.
Rebekah: Because She Can Wing It And Win
On the flip side, Rebekah Mikaelson isn't the kind of girl who comes up with the epic plans to defeat her rivals. She's quite a conundrum, because she's both a young girl and an ancient monster, and often times her youthful nature comes out when it comes to her lack of foresight.
However, she can easily be thrown into nearly any situation and come out the victor, both because she's insanely powerful and because she's talented with improvisation.
Katherine: Because She Has An Army Of Pawns
It seems like Katherine learned a lot from running away from Klaus for her entire vampire life, because her methods of developing a massive network of pawns who will take the fall for her instead of Katherine experiencing the blowback is straight out of the Klaus Mikaelson playbook.
But that really does make Katherine a huge threat as well, because anyone who wants to go up against her has to go through dozens of people before they can get to her.
Rebekah: Because She's A Real Player
Rebekah is a villainess who seems to do almost all of her own dirty work. And honestly, why wouldn't she?
Rebekah is one of the most powerful creatures on the planet, and it's safe to assume that anything that she could get a minion to do is something she can do better. She's already impossible to beat, so she has no problem facing off against any of her enemies.
Katherine: Because She's The Ultimate Survivor
Given that she's nearly indestructible, survival isn't something that Rebekah has had to worry much about for most of her life.
However, Katherine is actually more of a threat because she is so adept at and singularly focused on surviving. Katherine has managed to survive and actually become more powerful after five lifetimes of running away from the most dangerous person in the world, so she's not one to be messed with.
Rebekah: Because She Can't Be Killed
Unlike her brother Klaus, Rebekah isn't the type to hold on to a grudge, and unlike Katherine, she's not someone who comes up with elaborate plans to torture and kill other people.
But there's an obvious issue for anyone who actually finds themselves in a dispute with Rebekah, because she is nearly impossible to kill. No one can really get in a fight with Rebekah and win.
Katherine: Because She's A Master Manipulator
Katherine as an individual in a one on one fight isn't a huge threat, but what makes her so dangerous is that she always comes into any situation with enough planning and manipulating as a foundation that she's essentially already won the game before it even started.
In most instances, she's the one who designed the game in the first place, so her enemies have no hope of winning.
Rebekah: Because Her Power Is Unmatched
Rebekah is such a major threat for the obvious reason that she can only be killed by a white oak stake (which are pretty hard to come by), but even beyond that, she's a very tough adversary.
Older vampires are stronger, and as an Original, there are literally no vampires that can match her physical capabilities. On top of that, she's very smart and can be quite strategic, making her a threatening opponent.
Katherine: Because She's The Original Villainess
The villains of The Vampire Diaries seemed to get more and more threatening and powerful as the series went on, but there's something to be said for the evil characters who were there right out of the gate.
Katherine was really the first female villain of the series, and she was downright terrifying all the way up until the end too.
Rebekah: Because She's An Original Vampire
The Vampire Diaries has been home to many intimidating characters and memorable badass women, but no group of villains ever had the impact that the Original family did.
They were scary enough and compelling enough to warrant their own spinoff, which is something no other antagonists can say. Rebekah Mikaelson and all of the Originals were powerful, intriguing, and impossible to beat.